Sasso Tournament Brings Out the Stars for the 16th Annual Fundraiser

HAWTHORNE, NJ - The Mark A. Sasso Memorial Fund hosted the ESPN 98.7 All-Stars on July 27 for the 16th Annual Mark A. Sasso Softball Fundraiser. Anna Marie Sasso hosts the fundraisers in honor of her late husband, Mark, who lost his battle with cancer in 2008. The fund raises money to donate to deserving Hawthorne high school students to help them go to college. This past school year, the fund awarded scholarships to three Hawthorne students — Daniel Monica, Cadence O'Hagan, and Victoria Dellacroce. "We give as much as we can, and it's a drop in the bucket because college is extraordinarily expensive. But it might help with books or something else. They're all very appreciative," Sasso said. The highlight of the day is always the final game, where the ESPN All Stars, headlined by Don LaGreca, co-host of the Michael Kay Show, takes on the winner of the round-robin tournament. "We've been doing this for a long time. During this period, 16 years together, we've all experienced a lot of things over this time: beautiful things, births, graduations, marriages, wonderful things, some not so wonderful, major illnesses, passings, but we continue to gather once a year to celebrate Mark and raise money for the kids," Sasso said. Sasso sighed with gratitude at the end of the fundraiser. "I'm thankful for the fans that come and they donate, they buy tickets; for the teams that come and play, Willie Williams, who sang the National Anthem, certainly Don LaGreca," she said. "You know Don brings celebrities every year. Today he brought professional wrestler Tommy Dreamer, who played and signed autographs for the kids." "The MVPs of the game were six-year-old Marco LaGreca, son of Don LaGreca, and 10-year-old James Nienhouse. Marco threw out the first pitch, and James worked his tushy off all day - 13 or 14 hours," she said. "This foundation is dedicated to helping the children in one form or another. And so, I'm beyond thrilled."

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